


Speak Now

by pearlydewdrop



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Honesty, Love Confessions, Other, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-25 20:04:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9841823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearlydewdrop/pseuds/pearlydewdrop
Summary: Speak now or forever hold your peace.Can Scully stand by and watch Mulder get married to Diana Fowley when he doesn't know that her feelings for him surpass those of only friendship?





	1. Chapter 1

**I am not the kinda girl**

**Who should be rudely barging in**

**on a white veil occasion**

**But you, are not the kinda boy**

**Who should be marrying the wrong girl.**

**~Speak Now, Taylor Swift**

Dana Scully's Residence

Georgetown

Washington DC

23rd of August '99

Scully sighed loudly at the sunlight that was streaming in the window from outside. She had been dreading this day for the last four months, for every moment since Mulder and Diana had announced their engagement.

The memory would be forever engraved in her mind.

It had been a regular day down in her and Mulder's basement (or normal as it had been since he had started seeing Diana again). Scully had been shocked at first at his deceleration but had quickly stammered out a congratulations that she had almost been sure that Mulder was disappointed to hear from her.

But that could have just been wishful thinking on her part. Surely, he wouldn't have wanted her to be unhappy about his engagement, right?

Mulder had seemed pretty pleased with himself every day at work for the last month and Scully had tried her best to pretend that she was happy for his sake. He was her best friend after all, she had been there for him and he for her when no one else was, and nothing, not even The Foul One, could change that.

Scully had always thought heartbreak was just an expression, a metaphor that was over-used by emotionally unstable poets and hormonal teenagers. She was a medical doctor for God's sake, she knew that your heart wouldn't actually break as a result of losing the person you love. She knew heartbreak wasn't a real physical ailment but despite all science and logical reasoning, the deep piercing ache inside her told a different story all together.

She had all the symptoms.

Frustrated with herself,Scully turned over on her side, facing the dress that she had hung up for today on the front of her wardrobe. It was beautiful really, knee-length, fitted and emerald green but she wasn't wearing it today.

She wasn't going to the wedding.

Not that Scully even wanted to go anyway, but if present circumstances had been different she knew that she probably would have sucked up her own pain and self pity and gone for Mulder's sake. She was the only friend or family he had outside of The Three Stooges after all. He needed her there.

But unfortunately she had been uninvited last night at the rehearsal dinner by Mulder's lovely bride to be.

Scully groaned internally at the thought of Diana Fowley being Mulder's wife.

The thought just seemed too strange, too foreign (even though she knew it was going to happen for the last four months considering that she had listened to Mulder's daily whining about wedding planning for the first month and a half) to be a part of her reality. But it was.

Just then the door bell rang out, startling her enough to pull her from her thoughts.

"Damn it", Scully muttered quietly under her breath.

Her mother was going to the wedding as well and had suggested about a week in advance that the pair of them travel out to Martha's Vineyard for the ceremony together. In her rush to get away from the rehearsal dinner the previous night, it had slipped Scully's mind to inform her mother that she wasn't going.

She pulled back the warm covers, the cold air hitting the skin left uncovered by her pyjamas. Swinging her two legs over the side of the mattress, Scully slowly got out of bed and made her way to her front door only to be greeted by the smiling face of her mother, dressed in a pale lilac suit with her dark hair freshly permed for the occasion.

"Dana, why aren't you ready for the wedding, dear?."

"I'm not planning on going, Mom", Scully replied simply, stepping away from the door and retreating into the kitchen area, followed closely by her now concerned looking mother.

Maggie regarded her daughter for a moment. She had known for years that Dana had feelings for Fox that went far beyond the feelings usually shared between partners and friends, and if she knew anything about men (which she did after being married to William Scully for thirty seven years and mothering two now grown men), she also knew that Fox Mulder's feelings for her daughter weren't the most friendly either. The pair of them were just too stubborn, short-sighted and careful to do anything about it.

"Why not, Dana?", Maggie asked, already knowing the answer.

Scully sighed tiredly. There wasn't really much of a point in keeping her feelings for Mulder to herself anymore anyway. He was getting married in a few hours and that would be the end of it. It would be too late to say anything about it to him. She knew that her mother had seen through her insistency that there was nothing between herself and Mulder anyway.

Maggie Scully had heard pretty much everything rant imaginable about Diana Fowley from her daughter and if that was not proof enough in itself of her daughter's feelings for Fox Mulder that she didn't know what was.

"I'm not going to watch him get married to Diana Fowley of all people", Scully said quietly as she sat down at her kitchen table, a slight tone of bitterness in her voice hiding the pain underneath the surface "I don't think I would be able to stand by see that, best friend or not. She's not good enough for him".

Maggie smiled sadly, "Dana, I've asked you this several times before and I'm going to ask you one more time and I'll promise not to ever bring it up again", she said seriously. "Do you love him?"

Scully groaned, feeling somewhat like a misbehaving child, under the intensity of her mother's gaze.

Mulder was getting married in two and a half hours time. Was there really any point in lying to her mother or keeping the truth to herself anymore. "I've been in love with him for a long time, Mom", she said quietly, trying to keep a brave face and her emotions at bay. "So long that I'm not even sure when I fell in love with him anymore. I think that it was probably creeping up on me little by little since we started working together."

"Does Fox know that?"

"Of course not", Scully replied, shaking her head at even the idea of Mulder knowing how she truly felt about him. She had been so close to tell him so many times over the last six years but she had always chickened out at the last possible second.

He already meant far too much to her as a friend for her to speak up and possibly ruining the trust between them forever. She loved their relationship too much to gamble it away for a little more intimacy than they already had.

"I've never told him because I didn't want to ruin what we have if he didn't feel the same way as I do", she replied honestly. "and besides, everything is probably going to change now that he's getting married. Diana hates me", Scully said, voicing the fear she had had inside ever since Mulder told her that he and Diana were getting married.

She had even gone as far as starting to subconsciously distance herself from Mulder ever since he had gotten engaged. 'To protect myself', she had reasoned.

But it didn't protect her or him for that matter. The distance between them had killed her and seeing him with Diana had been like rubbing salt in an open wound.

Maggie watched her daughter intently, she could see the pain behind her daughter's bright blue eyes begin to bubble over. The pain that had seemingly taken root over six moths ago when Mulder and Diana had gotten back together.

It had been clear to Maggie for years that ever since her now thirty five year old daughter was a child Dana had always been adapt at hiding her most powerful emotions inside.

All of her true feelings had always been hidden somewhere in the back, bottled up until they exploded inside of her, leaving shards of glass everywhere in their wake, like prickling thorns.

"If your going to loose him anyway, Dana. Then what's holding you back from telling him that you love him today."

"Mom, he's getting married today", Scully said incredulously. "I'm supposed to be his best friend, I can't ruin his wedding like that no matter how feel about him and no matter how much I...dislike the bride."

"Dana, if you don't you'll regret it for the rest of your life. I've watched how the two of you are around each other. He's mad for you Dana. Married or not", the older woman said with utter certainty. "Has he ever told you that he loves you."

"Only when he's high on pain medication", Scully replied dryly. "He was just talking rubbish".

Maggie's eyes light up at her daughter's confession. "Well there you go, dear. Maybe he just needed a little confidence and the drugs gave him that. What did you say to him?"

"I just brushed it off and told him to get some rest. He wasn't being serious about any of it."

"But ignoring that he said it at all was probably the worst thing you could have done, Dana. What if he was being truthful and thought you didn't feel the same way that he did?"

"Mom, he's getting married today. My feelings for him don't matter anymore."

"But he doesn't know that you love him. How do you know he won't leave Diana if he finds out"

Scully shook her head stubbornly, "Mom, I can't hear this now. I just have to get on with my life no matter what Mulder does or doesn't do with his. I'll congratulate him tomorrow when I've pulled myself together."

"Dana, how many times in your life do you think you meet the right person, huh? How many soulmates do you think we get in our lives? Are you really going to let Fox Mulder, of all people, slip through your fingers?"

Scully watched her mother for a second, uncertain. Should she really tell Mulder that she loves him on the morning of his wedding? Would it really be fair to him and fair to herself to put themselves through the pain of that?

But she, Dana Scully, loved him more than anyone else. Doesn't that mean something.

And what about Diana? Mulder had, after all, asked her to marry him. Shouldn't that not be proof enough that Diana is the person that he is in love with and that she, herself, should just get on with things and try to ,at least, remain his friend.

Damn it, she still loved him.

"Alright, Mom. I'll go", Scully agreed, the words slipping out of their own accord.

Did she just agree to that?

Standing up from the kitchen table, Scully left to go get changed and grab her car keys.

If she was gate-crashing Mulder and Diana's wedding, she may as well do it in style.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile,

The Mulder Family Home

Martha's Vineyard

Mulder regarded his own appearance in the mirror as he adjusted his tie slightly so it sat a little more comfortably around his neck.

Watching himself in the mirror, the profiler in him couldn't tell whether the man in the mirror was preparing for his wedding or a funeral going by the expression on his face, his posture and his overall anticipation for the day ahead.

He hated being back in the house that Sam had been abducted from nearly twenty seven years before but Diana had insisted that it was the most suitable place to get married, given that neither of them were particularly religious and wanted a church wedding.

But that was nowhere near the biggest problem.

He wasn't even sure that he wanted to marry Diana at all and it wasn't just a case of cold feet like The Gunmen had suggest earlier on. Mulder knew that he hasn't been truly in love with her ever since she broke his heart the first time around.

Could he really trust her again after she left him high and dry nearly twelve years ago? He was the man who was supposed to trust no one after all.

Apart from Scully that is.

Despite that though, Mulder wanted to believe that time and distance had made Diana change for the better and that she did love him.

But did he truly love her the way he ought to walk down the aisle with her in good conscience. He knew that there was a chance that he may grow to love her again but was that really enough?

Then of course, there was Scully, his constant, his confidant, his touchstone. The woman who had been the other half of him since he met her six years before. The woman who was his best friend in the entire world who he had admitted to himself, more than once, that he loved more that he loved life itself. He knew that he would do anything to be there for her whenever or if ever she needed him. (not that she would ever admit that to anyone)

But he also knew that pursuing her would be futile.

Mulder was almost 100% certain that she didn't feel the same way that he did about her and if he was being honest with himself he could hardly blame her.

He treasured his friendship with her above all else and knew that sharing the depth of his feelings for her would leave both of them confused, angry and broken-hearted. It wasn't worth the risk so he should just have to keep his unspoken vow of silence.

Diana on the other hand, was open about her feelings for him. She always had been.

Mulder knew that her feelings for him weren't exactly returned in equal measure by him at the moment but perhaps in a year or two, he felt that he may be comfortable and certain enough to move past his unrequited love for his partner and best friend and properly love the woman who he was marrying today.

He just wished that he could talk to Scully right now. He knew should wouldn't be arriving at the wedding for a few more hours at the very least, but he still felt the absence of her like he would a missing limb.

Should he really be thinking like that? Was it fair to Diana to be thinking like that about Scully?

'Well damn that', he thought, frustrated with himself.

How the hell was he supposed to get married when he entertains thoughts like that about a woman who isn't at the other side of the house putting on a wedding dress, but instead is in a car somewhere between DC and Martha's Vineyard on the way to the wedding as a guest.

Should he even be marrying Diana today?

Especially consider that he was head over heels in love with someone else, in love with the one woman that he knew would never love him as more than a friend and a partner.

Mulder turned away from his own reflection to face the older, balding man with glasses who was standing behind him, supposedly trying to help him with his marital doubts that were becoming increasingly and increasingly more serious as the ceremony was drawing closer.

"What do you think of marriage, Skinner?", Mulder asked, running a frustrated hand through his hair. He tried his best not to sound too obvious. "Because I think that I might have found myself here at a wedding that's supposed to be mine and I don't even know if marriage is something that I want", he confessed before adding under his breath, "or at least, I'm not sure if the person I'm marrying is really the person that I love."

Mulder knew that he wasn't fooling anyone especially not the man who had been his boss for nearly ten years and his and Scully's boss for six.

Skinner sighed deeply, sick of standing by while two of his best agents denied their feelings for one another once again. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were seriously two of the most emotionally constipated people he had ever meet. "I think marriage is great, Mulder", he said firmly, "If you love the person with your whole heart."

"But that's the problem. I'm not sure if I...", Mulder said trailing off, as he begun pacing across the room, to and fro like a maniac. "If marrying Diana is something that I should do."

Skinner shook his head slightly in frustration. "Let's cut to the chase shall we, Mulder? You're in love with Scully and you've been too scared to say anything about it for God knows how long and now you're marrying Diana because you don't want to risk the possibility of Scully rejecting you."

Mulder smirked humourlessly at the accuracy behind Skinner's statement. Were the truths that he was having a hard time admitting to himself and to Scully really that obvious to everyone else?

"Sir, are you sure you're not the profiler here?"

"It doesn't take a genius to tell that you guys have been running in circles around each other for the last six years and I know for a fact that if you go through with this marriage today, You and Scully will both be equally miserable for as long as you have a wedding band on your finger."

Mulder sighed tiredly. He knew what Skinner had said about him being miserable if he married Diana was more than likely true. But Scully? She surely didn't love him in the same way that he loved her, right? How could she? He was her crazy, dysfunctional and eccentric friend and FBI partner. She didn't see him as anything more.

"I don't know about that, Skinner. I'm pretty sure that Scully would be just fine if I was married to someone else."

Skinner rolled. "For God's Sake, Mulder. Wake up and smell the horse shit. This woman has followed you all over the country for six years straight while you chased things that didn't necessarily believe in. This is the woman that saved your sorry ass and pulled you back from Death's door more times then any of us can count. This is the woman who believed you and relentlessly went after you while everyone else, myself included at times, thought you belonged in a mental institution. Look me in the eye Mulder and tell me this whole wedding isn't a mistake."

Mulder sighed tiredly, his pacing coming to a standstill. Was this whole wedding really a mistake? He did love Diana, in a way, but certainly not in the same way that he loved Scully.

Diana was a key figure in his past but Scully was his everything, his favourite person in the world.

He could go out there and marry Diana and live a lie, or he could go out there and tell Scully he loved her, tell her the truth.

The Truth. Scully was his truth. She probably always had been.

"You're right, Skinner. There's no way in hell that I can marry Diana." Mulder sighed angrily, kicking the wardrobe in the corner hard until he felt his big toe begin to bruise. Grumbling in frustration, he turned his sights back to the older man. "What the hell am I supposed to do about the wedding?"

"When they ask you if 'you do' just tell them that 'you don't'."

"You think it's really that easy", Mulder asked sarcastically. "I may not love Diana like I love Scully but I sure as hell don't want to humiliate her in front of everyone."

"Diana's a big girl, Mulder. She'll be fine. This is about you and Scully, no one else matters right now. You have to tell her how you feel or live with the consequences of her not knowing."

Mulder smiled slightly, looking at the older man with new eyes. He had always seen Skinner as his only ally in the bureau (aside from Scully) but never really as a friend. That was until now.

"Thanks, Skin-man."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Speak Now

I sneak in and see your friends

And her snotty little family all dressed in pastels

And she is yelling at a bridesmaid

Somewhere back inside a room wearing a gown shaped like a pastry.

~ Taylor Swift, Speak Now.

Scully didn't want to make a scene during the ceremony if she could at all help it. She decided this as soon as she parted from her mother's company to go search the house for Mulder. She had twenty minutes before the ceremony would start and her non-platonic love for the man who will always be her best friend wouldn't matter anymore.

She didn't want to stand up in front of the crowd when the preacher would ask did anyone wishing to object to the marriage. She needed to talk to Mulder in private if there was anyway that she possibly could.

As she made her way up the stairs, Scully cursed quietly under her breath as she was struck with the lengthiness of the corridor before her, at least a dozen or more doors to her left and right. How the hell was she supposed to find Mulder in twenty minutes in a house this size without running into Diana, Mulder's pastel clad future in-laws and God knows who else.

Passing the first bedroom to her left, Scully heard a bellowing, bitchy and all too familiar voice that unmistakably belonged to Diana Fowley. "Get that damn thing zipped up. We don't have the whole damn day to do this, you useless idiot", the woman growled threateningly at the other side of the door. "And I DO NOT want to look like a giant fucking pastry".

There was silence and then some barely audible apologies.

"The poor woman who agreed to be her bridesmaid", Scully muttered to herself, rolling her eyes as she continued down the hallway. Could she really, in good conscience, let Mulder marry a woman like that? She had strongly disliked Diana Fowley ever since she first met her and how Mulder blindly trusted the woman had always half-worried and half-annoyed Scully to her very core. She couldn't help feeling protective of Mulder and today was no exception.

"Hey, How's our favourite FBI Agent", a jokingly flirty voice called out behind her.

Scully whirled around only to see the three smiling faces of The Lone Gunmen. Byers had cleaned up quite well for the occasion (still looking like your average stockbroker) while Frohike and Langly appeared almost comical in their respective tuxedos.

"So I'm your favourite now, am I?", she asked, teasing them half-heartedly. "I thought Mulder ranked just above me because he's supportive of some of your crazier ideas."

Frohike chuckled, his deep laugh echoing in the corridor. "He used to, but considering that he's being an idiot and marrying a literal witch after everything she did to him; Mulder is now demoted to being our second favourite", he said before smirking cheekily. "But for what it's worth you have always been my favourite FBI agent, Dana."

Scully rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. She may not have warmed to the three Gunmen straight away but if she was being honest with herself she would admit that despite herself she has become quite fond of them in the last six years.

Langly chuckled along with him while Byers turned his attention from Frohike back to Scully. He had a feeling that there was more to the relationship between Mulder and Scully then either of them had let on over the last couple of years but Byers could tell that Scully didn't look her usual self and he had a fair idea why. "So how are you, Dana?", he asked, repeating Frohike's original question.

"I'm okay guys", Scully said simply, looking over her shoulder to the long line of nearly identical doors on her left and right so she wouldn't have to see their expressions at her vacant answer. "Have you seen Mulder around? I need to talk to him."

"He's already outside for the ceremony. He said that he wanted to take a walk first", Byers replied, gesturing in the general direction that Mulder had left in about five minutes before.

"Thanks", Scully replied, already turning on her heel to leave. If Mulder was already outside that meant that the ceremony would start earlier than she thought it would. How much time did she really have? "I better go and find him before the wedding starts."

Langly smiled widely, dropping his voice so that it couldn't be heard by anyone apart from the four of them standing in the hallway. "You're going stop this total circus of a wedding, right Scully?".

Scully looked at the three of them in alarm. Was her intentions to see Mulder before the wedding that difficult to see through. "What the hell makes you think that?."

"Well it's true isn't it?"

"Maybe."

Frohike smirked. "If he doesn't dump The Foul One and go sweep you off of your feet then he's more of an idiot than I thought he was."

"Thanks, I think", Scully replied, a little unsurely, not entirely certain how to respond to The Gunmen's enthusiasm. If her plan got them excited perhaps it was a little too crazy for her to even consider.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Fun gestures are exchanged

And the organ starts to play a song that sounds like a death march

And I am hiding in the curtain, it seems that I was uninvited by your lovely bride to be.

She floats down the aisle like a pageant queen but I know that you wish it was me

You wish it was me, don't you?

~Taylor Swift, Speak Now.

As soon as Scully reached the front garden she heard the music begin to play a song that sounded far more like a gallows march then a wedding song. Diana's four bridesmaids flounced down the aisle in their pale yellow, sun coloured dresses.

Scully ducked behind the curtain at the back

Was it too late?

She peered quickly up the aisle, spotting Mulder at the top. He looked like the stereotypical groom, dressed in a dark tuxedo with his hair combed neatly, all that was missing was the usual expression of infinite love and hope for the future that graced the features of most grooms when they see the bride float down the aisle like a pageant queen.

In all of the six years that Scully has known him, she has seen him in some very sticky situations involving some of the craziest things. Things that most people would never believe. Things that never happen to anyone else but somehow happen to them on an almost daily basis.

However, in the wake of something that happens to the majority of people at some point in their lives, for better or for worse, she has never seen him look so trapped.

Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part. Perhaps Mulder was every bit as content and blissful a bridegroom as everyone in attendance thought he was. Maybe it was her that was wrong and she just fancied the idea of saving him from Diana's clutches.

Pushing the velvety folds of curtain material out of her way to get a better view of what she would be walking into, Scully attempted to make eye contact with Mulder but his eyes seemed to be scanning the crowd in search of someone.

Someone he was, at this point, sure hadn't even showed up.

Scully felt her heart thump softly in her chest as the weight of what she was preparing herself to do hit her. She has spent the last six and a half years fighting, hiding and denying her growing feelings for Mulder. Too scared to tell him. Too scared to admit it even to herself.

The truth she has spent so long hiding to protect herself from being overly vulnerable around him, the man who she would trust with her own life in a split second.

He was going to know and soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I hear the preacher say, speak now or forever hold your peace.

There's a silence. There's my last chance

I stand up with shaking hands, all eyes on me.

Horrified looks from everyone in the room but I'm only looking at you

~Taylor Swift

Mulder glanced away from Diana, scanning the crowd for the one woman that he needed by his side right now. He glanced at the empty seat between Mrs Scully and Byers.

Scully's seat.

Turning, back to face the smiling woman approaching him, Mulder couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty about what he was about to do to her. Lifting the feather light lave veil off of Diana's face, Mulder watched her, silently trying to communicate his sympathy for what he was about to do.

It didn't work though, not in the slightest. There was only one person who came close to reading his thoughts (to the point where he oftentimes swore that she was psychic when it came to him, even though he knew that she would call his theory insane) and it sure as hell wasn't the woman opposite him in white, but his absentee redheaded partner.

He looked over Diana's shoulder, hoping to see Scully somewhere in the crowd but found his eyes sifting through lots and lots of people that he didn't care about in the slightest and only a handful that he did including The Gunmen, Mrs Scully and Skinner. The rest were practically strangers from the FBI'S bullpen.

He couldn't really blame her for not showing up, he kind of wished he had been that smart about the whole situation.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Scully felt her heart thumping wildly as she stepped out from underneath the curtain, she couldn't do this anymore. It wasn't like her to just flee and hide when things got tough. Her fingers shook slightly but she steeled herself to speak her mind.

She couldn't keep her feeling from Mulder any longer. She couldn't even wait for the preacher to say 'speak now or forever hold your peace'. Scully felt as though her feeling might just eat her alive from the inside out if she had to.

In a handful of strides, her four inch stiletto heels clicking on the temporary outdoor flooring, Scully found herself standing in the middle of the aisle. Her face pale and her heart on her sleeve. "I'm sorry, I need to get something off my chest", she said, speaking up.

The music ended abruptly and horrified looks were shared around the room. Only a small handful of the wedding party were smiling knowingly.

Diana looked confused and furious.

Scully watched as Mulder's eyes lit up with awe when they locked with her's and suddenly it didn't matter that they were surrounded by a hundred or so people including his wife to be and both of their superiors. They may as well have been alone down in their basement office.

After that words came easy, they slipped off her tongue as though she had been practising them ever since he had gotten engaged to Diana. Maybe in some weird way, she had. "Mulder, You deserve all the happiness in the world but I really really don't want you to do this", she said quietly. It wasn't like her to barge into the middle of a white veil occasion. Dana Scully was certainly not a drama queen or an attention seeker but she did have something to say so she as sure as hell would say it. "I love you, Fox Mulder. I love you with my whole heart and I don't give a crap anymore who knows or doesn't know just as long as you do. I loved you probably since shortly after we first met and I've struggled with keeping it under control ever since then for the sake of our jobs and of The X-Files", she said quickly, breathing deeply. "I just can't do this with you anymore."

Mulder's expression changed from one of awe to one of shock. He couldn't believe that the woman he loved was standing here in front of him on what would be his wedding telling him that he couldn't get married.

Scully felt her heart sinking, she should have expected this. Of course, Mulder wouldn't have gone through with this unless he really wanted to. He may be one of the most impulsive and spontaneous people she knew but even he wouldn't marry someone unless he loved them with his whole heart.

He watched her from the top of the aisle, paralysed and astounded but more in love with her than ever.

Before Mulder could say a word, Scully bolted. She needed to get out of here and fast.

Don't say yes, run away now

I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door

Don't wait or say a single vow, you need to hear me out

And they said speak now

~Taylor Swift, Speak Now


	4. Chapter 4

Speak Now: Chapter 4

Don't say yes, run away now

I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door

Don't wait or say a single vow, you need to hear me out

And they said speak now

~Taylor Swift, Speak Now

"Fox", Diana snaps, eyeing Mulder impatiently and handing her large bouquet of flowers to one of the confused looking bridesmaids beside her. "Fox look at me right now." She wasn't half surprised that Agent Scully had pulled something like this on her and Fox's wedding day. Diana had always known that Scully had a thing for Mulder, it had been the whole reason why she had uninvited her at the rehearsal dinner. Even the thought of her husband-to-be's partner made her blood boil and this little stunt just strengthened her disdain.

Mulder shook his head slightly as though trying to wake himself up from a dream. A large goofy grin breaking out on his face as Scully's words truly hit him. He felt as though her voice was still ringing in his ears. Scully's voice, the voice her knew so well. She the voice of reason in his life. Scully was his constant, his touchstone.

And she loved him.

He turned around for the first time, taking in the sight of Diana, the woman he was supposed to marry today. Her face was already flushed with anger and she looked kind of like she was about to hit something, or at least like she wanted to hit something.

He might have to duck in a few minutes.

Mulder spotted Skinner over Diana's left should. The older man nodded to him encouragingly, as though making a silent promise to give whatever explanations that need to be given to the guest who had came to Martha's Vineyard from Washington for a wedding that would ultimately not happen.

It wouldn't be the first or last time that Skinner had cleaned up after Mulder and Scully but at least this time he could back their decision wholeheartedly.

Mulder nodded back, glancing longingly at the archway that Scully had passed through, heading back to the field that was serving as a parking lot at the front of the house. He needed to follow her ,and quickly, before she left.

"Fox, look at me", Diana commanded forcefully as she reached out and took his hands. Mulder turned to her apologetically, knowing exactly what he had to do.

Diana spoke up first. "We can't let Agent Scully ruin today", she told him firmly. "Dana Scully doesn't matter anymore."

Mulder frowned, pulling his hands gently from Diana's grasp. "You see, Diana. That's where you're wrong. Scully does matter. She's my best friend and to be honest I think she's right about this. That's why I can't marry you ", he dropped his voice slightly so that no one but Diana could hear. "I'm sorry."

Diana frowned, hands now firmly on her hips, she eyed him critically. "Fox, Agent Scully doesn't know you like I do. She's not like you the way I am. Would you let her selfishly ruin what could be an amazing marriage?"

Mulder sighed deeply, trying not to react to Diana's remarks about Scully being 'selfish' or 'not mattering'. As far as he was concerned, Dana Scully was the most selfless human and important person in his life. She had sacrificed everything to stay by his side in the last six years from her relationship with certain family members to her health and most painfully her chance at having a family.

There was nothing Scully wouldn't do for him just as there was nothing that he wouldn't do for her.

"Diana, you don't want to be married to me", he said finally. "I should never have gotten into a relationship with you again in the first place, especially when my heart very obviously didn't belong to you and hadn't for over a decade", he knew that it was cruel and he didn't want to be cruel to Diana but not telling her now would only hurt her more in the long run.

Scully had once told him that the truth may hurt but it us all that matters. No truer words had ever been spoken. "I was fooling myself thinking that I could live a life with you when my life has felt like nothing but a lie since we got back together. Scully is my life but I still asked you to marry me and I'm so sorry for that. But if anyone is selfish here it as sure as hell isn't Scully, it's me."

"So bottom line, you think that you're in love with her?", Diana asked indignantly, glaring up at him.

"Bottom line, I am in love with Dana Scully", Mulder said, putting firm emphasis on 'am'. His eyes, drifted back to the floral archway in front of the curtain that Scully had appeared through earlier. "And I really really need to go after her."

Suddenly Diana's fist collided with his face, knocking him back. With her punch coming as a complete surprise (even though it probably shouldn't have), Mulder hadn't prepared himself for a thumping right then and lost his balance half from the force of her punch and half from tripping over himself (very graceful for an FBI agent, huh? But bless him, he was still a bit love addled from Scully's confession).

Mulder ended up on the ground, whacking his head hard off of the concrete tiled aisle. The world spinning around him for a moment as he saw The Gunmen pulling a very angry Diana away from him.

Then nothing.

Nothing but a sea of darkness, as pitch as charcoal with a few scattered stars, shining like celestial balls in his mind's night.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Of course she, Dana Scully, had experienced heartbreak before, who hadn't?

On the handful of occasions when she had experienced the dreaded post love lost sickness, it had totally sucked. What kind of sickness didn't?

There would never be more than a few tears but after she had prescribed herself (she was a doctor, right?) a few glasses of wine (maybe a bottle), a pint of the famous Peanut Buttercup Ben and Jerry's ice cream, a nice warm bubble bath and a screening of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' for one, Scully would have carefully pieced back her heart together and covered it neatly with a bandage. All tidied up with comfort food, vanilla and cinnamon scented bath bubbles and metaphorical surgical tape, she would be back to her usual self the next day.

This didn't feel like one of those times though. Like hell it didn't.

She held it together until she was out of sight and out of earshot of any of Mulder and Diana's wedding guests. She couldn't let them see her bleed about this. She may have sacrificed her fearsome reputation of being an "ice queen" in a predominantly man's world by pouring her heart out to Mulder in front of everyone but she wasn't going to let anyone see her break down over his rejection.

As soon as she climbed behind the steering wheel of her car, tears fell hot and salty down her face at the loss she had just sustained. Her Mulder. She had lost him. It was the one thing she had dreaded most about admitting her feeling to him and just as Murphy's law would predict, she had lost him because she loved him too much in a way he couldn't reciprocate. If the worst case scenario could occur, it would simply because it could.

(Who the fuck was Murphy's anyway?)

More tears fell, slipping down her cheeks and off the end of her nose. She wasn't a noisy crier, more like a quiet lower child in the corner of a room with only her tears for company.

Taking deep breaths, Scully tried desperately to compose herself. She tried to think of anything but Mulder but her mind was drawn back to him like they were two oppositely charged pole magnets, inevitably drawn to one another.

(Why the hell do opposites attract?)

Dana Scully had loved before and she had definitely lost love before too but nothing had ever felt as earth shattering as losing Mulder(even though there never had been a time where they were more than friends, it still felt like a loss).

It was like loosing a limb, Mulder had always felt like an integral part of herself that she just happened to carry outside of her body, which was probably lethal for her considering Mulder penchant for diving headfirst into dangerous situations at work and now entering into a marriage with a first class bitch (Yes, Scully would admit it now. No lying anymore. If anything could make Scully hate Diana Fowley more, it was the thought of Diana Fowley becoming Diana Mulder) in his personal life.

Being rejected by him made her feel more torn up inside than she could possibly describe. She had never allowed herself to feel the full extent of her feelings for Mulder and now Scully felt as though a stormy ocean was whirling to life inside of her and she had no idea how to suppress it anymore.

She loved him. She loved him. She loved him but he didn't love her.

She wanted to hate him for making her feel so vulnerable. She wanted to hated him for making her hurt this badly (she had taken bullets and they hadn't hurt as excruciating as this) but hating him felt unnatural to her, almost alien (excuse the pun). Hating him took more energy than she had right now but loving him was as easy as breathing.

Why did it have to be that way?

How the hell would she face him when he got back to work? How would she look Mulder in the eye anymore when they both knew just how deeply she loved him?

Scully had no idea but she knew she would have to toughen up and deal with it when Mulder and Diana returned from their honeymoon.

At least she wouldn't have to deal with it now. For now she could sit here in the car and get used to her new reality. Mulder was now a married man and she knew from experience that going anywhere near a married man was messy business that should be avoided if at all possible. Daniel Waterston had taught her that lesson the hard way.

Suddenly a tap came to the widow, Scully quickly swiped away any of her remaining tears and blinked back any that may be following. She hitched on a false smile, looking up at the intruder who had seen fit to disturb her.

Skinner.

"Sir", she said firmly, keeping her voice even to the point where she almost sounded business-like, a stark contrast to her expression. "I can't go back in there again. Not for you or mom or even Mulder. I don't care what anyone thinks or says. I'm staying right here until Mom is leaving", she sighed looking up again, surprised at how much she had dumped on her boss. "Sorry Sir, I'm a little...upset at the moment, but I'll have it all under control once Mulder gets back from his honeymoon. You won't have any more problems of this nature with our partnership.

He smiled sympathetically, eyeing her bloodshot eyes. Skinner had never seen Scully cry before and wasn't sure what he would be getting himself into by agreeing to fetch Scully from the car. But still, he respected Scully for trying to turn such a personal conversation around and make t about work. She really was very good at hiding how she feels.

He tried to make it less awkward than it was for Scully's sake and cut straight to the chase, deciding not to tell her what transpired at the wedding and about Mulder's heartfelt but not very tactful confession that left him out cold with what will be a dark blue shiner in the morning.

Better to leave the romantic details (or not very romantic, depending how you look at it) to the man himself once he wakes up.

"Scully, Diana punched Mulder and he hit his head. We reckon he might have a concussion but we don't know. You're the only doctor here, so...?", he asked trailing off. "You might want to take a look at that partner of yours."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review. Have a great day!


	5. The Finale

Chapter 5

...

"I don't let nobody see me wishin' he was mine"  
― Taylor Swift

...

The Former Mulder Family Residence

Martha's Vineyard

...

"Mulder for Christ's sake, hold still", Scully scolded, cradling her squirming partner's chin between her hands as she checked his eyes for concussion with a trained eye and tiny flashlight, ignoring his constant protestations.

Mulder tried to wriggle his way out of her firm grasp. "It's no big deal, Scully. I've taken worse blows to the head then this", he assured her firmly (despite the fact that she probably knew his medical history better than he knew it himself) but secretly kinda liked her fussing over him, he always had.

Fifteen minutes earlier, Scully had grabbed the first aid kit from the trunk of her car. (Don't ask why she had one so readily, she had been Fox Mulder's FBI partner for over six years for crying out loud. The damn thing was rarely out of use!).

As soon as she had re-entered the house, the heartfelt emotional woman who had poured her soul out at the alter was long gone.

Dana Scully had had gone headfirst into doctor-mode, ushering The Gunmen (who had, albeit with quite a bit of cajoling, managed to get Mulder into bed) out of her partner's downstairs childhood bedroom.

"Well, What's the verdict, Doc. Do you think I'll live", Mulder asked her teasingly, his voice dripping with playful sarcasm despite his head injury.

"I don't think any more complications are going to arise but I still think we should get you a head scan at the nearest hospital", Scully decided, sure that her partner had landed himself with quite the concussion.

He hadn't experience any nausea just yet but had complained of a headache and had been out cold for about ten minutes before she had arrived.

Scully still hadn't approached the topic of what Mulder had said at the ceremony that had landed him concussed, single again and sporting a black eye.

She wasn't ready to know the truth and judging by his wooziness, he wasn't ready to tell her.

Mulder pouted slightly, his eyes dancing with an almost crazed expression (or someone would have thought if they were anyone but Scully. She knew that this was a typical ill or injured version of her partner)

"But Scully, you know I don't trust doctors", he replied with a hint of a whine, smiling up from the bed at the concern on his best friend's face as she decided what to do with him.

His head was spinning a little and he could feel his ears pounding. Scully's hair looked like a auburn blur around her face. A pretty blur, he'd admit. But a blur all the same.

Damn, he was dizzy.

Scully rolled her eyes and pushed away her first aid tools, satisfied with her diagnosis. "Don't be ridiculous, Mulder. I'm a doctor and you trust me just fine."

Mulder wriggled his eyebrows teasingly, his hazel eyes still looking a little foggy and 'out of it'. "Yes but you're my doctor", he jested, voice wobbling slightly even though he still put a slightly possessive emphasis on the 'my'.

Scully knew his mind was hella-wonky right now but could help a slight smile. Even though she wasn't in any way sure of Mulder's feelings right now (despite there having to have been a reason that the wedding had been cancelled and Diana had punched Mulder's lights out). She didn't think she'd mind being his, just so long as he was hers...

"And as your personal physician, I say that you get your ass into the passenger seat of my car and I take you to the hospital for a brain scan", Scully replied, smirking affectionately.

Mulder grinned mischievously, well used to her pulling the doctor card on him when she insisted on him getting more extensive medical examinations then she could manage at either of their homes. "And as your only living and breathing patient, I consider it my duty to tell you that you have an awful bedside manner, Doctor Scully."

"Shut up, Mulder."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

3 hours later

Pulling on his tie until it slipped off, Scully unbuttoned and pushed Mulder's dress shirt off of his shoulders tossing it on to the chair beside the double bed.

They were back in his childhood room again after several long hours waiting in the local emergency room.

"Wow, Scully. Hold your horses. If you're gonna make the chase six years long, you gotta take your time reaping the reward", Mulder told her, sporting a goofy, pain med induced grin. "I don't know how you ex-Navy brats are, but us Indian guides are taught never to pillage and plunder on the first date."

He would have seemed totally groggy if it wasn't for the sparkle in his eyes, like a little kid on a caffeine high just about bound for a sugar coma.

Scully rolled her eyes. She always finds herself informing any doctors they encounter that Mulder is an extreme lightweight when it comes to pain reliving medicine, but they never seem to listen, judging his dosage by his height and weight rather than the insistence of his long term FBI partner and personal doctor.

"Mulder, if you getting injured, us spending hours in the emergency room and me having to babysit you for the rest of the night when you're high on pain meds counts as a date then we've been dating for over six years", she replied firmly, her affectionate tone almost, but not quite, hidden.

"Good point, my dearest partner", Mulder agreed before flopping dramatically back on the bed and starting to sing. "Let's get it on. Ohhhh, oh c'mon baby. Let's get it on..."

"You're concussed, Mulder! The only thing you're getting on right now is a pair of pyjamas bottoms", Scully told him, her eyebrows raised in her signature 'I'm-Dana-The-Ice-Queen-Scully-And-I-Take-Shit-From-No-One' expression.

He sighed in defeat, pouting slightly, but reluctantly, and with the help of Scully, changed into his pyjamas bottoms, forgoing a shirt.

Scully settled down in the chair next to his bed, smiling slightly as she watched him climb under the blankets. She may seem a little frustrated with Mulder's medicine intoxicated self but she sure as hell was glad he wasn't married.

A few minutes later, he looked up. "You're not going to be able to sleep there, are you?", Mulder asked sceptically, raising an eyebrows at his friend who was sitting in what he knew to be a rather uncomfortable armchair.

Scully shrugged. "I've spent the night in worse and besides" she pointed out, pulling up the covers up above his shoulder. "I'm not planning on sleeping anyway."

Scully shrugged. "I've spent the night in worse and besides" she pointed out, pulling up the covers up above his shoulder. "I'm not planning on sleeping anyway."

Mulder looked up at her teasingly, sarcastically feigning shock. "How permiscous of you, Doctor Scully. What would your mother say...You're not planning on sleeping! And here I am in my state", he said, mock gasping, his eyebrows raised suggestively. "What would good old Hippocrates say?"

Scully sighed, face palming lightly. She was definitely a seasoned veteran when it came to her partner's reaction to pain meds...even when he was totally sombre, Mulder was one for the innuendos! But this was a whole new high (excuse the pun), even for him.

"Mulder, You're sick and I'm just here to watch you to make sure you don't do yourself anymore damage."

He giggled, he flat out giggled. Jeeze, they had definitely given him more hands she thought.

Scully sighed deeply. This will be a long night...

"Oh okay, have fun", Mulder stated, sounding as far from lucid as a person could be as he settled down on the pillows. For a second they fell silent, Mulder tossing and turning in an attempt to get comfortable and Scully looking on with a soft smile. "Hey, Scully. I can't sleep."

She rolled her eyes, chuckling slightly. If she was ever to imagine her best friend as a youngster, it wouldn't be a million miles away from how he was tripping on pain relievers. "Try counting UFOs", she suggested in a tongue in cheek sort of way.

Mulder let out a bark of laughter. High or not, he wasn't going ignore his partner's discomfort when there was something he could do about it, just as he wouldn't miss a chance to tease her, no matter the circumstances. "Nope. That won't work. I know you're uncomfortable over there and my chivalrous impulses are keeping me awake. Will you snuggle up with me. We can curl up like little baby cats for real this time"

"You're batshit crazy, Mulder. You almost got married today!"

There it was. One of the many elephants in the room.

He pouted, with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. "Yes, but I love you". As if, in his pain killer induced haze, it were just that simple.

Scully wanted to believe him, she really did. But it was all too similar to the last time he utter those three little words to her in a hospital room after a trip to the Bermuda Triangle where a 1930s version of herself had allegedly 'saved the world'. "Okay, Mulder. Whatever you say."

"Despite your non-committal answer, this time I know you love me too."

"That sure of yourself, huh?"

"Well, you did tell me a few hours ago in front of half of the FBI, conforming everyone, including Diana's, 'Mr and Mrs Spooky' suspicions", he told her with a wink, hardly seeming fazed that the aforementioned event had his almost wife punching his lights out at the alter. Too bad.

"Case closed, my dear Scully. Apparently they were right all along about us and after your confession they all know it."

"Don't remind me", she deadpanned. Despite the fact that, no matter how Mulder may or may not feel about her (when he is in his right frame of mind), she wouldn't regret what she did today. She wouldn't regret telling him and she wouldn't regret saving him from that snake that was Diana Fowley.

Mulder chortled quietly, seeing through his best friend's often times tough exterior. Despite everything that happened today and despite the aching in his head and the ringing in his ears, he couldn't help feel a sense of elation, like a balloon swelling up inside of him. "But it's all I can think about. Dana Scully loves me!"

Scully cracked a smile, smoothing back Mulder's slightly sweaty brown hair out of his face, torn between finding this whole conversation ridiculous or finding it adorable. "Alright bud, let's talk about it in the morning when you're sane"

"Aww you think I'm sane, that's adorable Scully...I knew you love me"

"Well, I meant when your back to your usual level of sanity."

Mulder shook his head slightly, before returning to the original conversation. "So now are you going to get in the bed?", he asked her, raising an eyebrow. "I won't sleep if you don't and then you'll have to listen to me rant and rave all night. "

Scully felt herself begin to relent. Would it be that bad if she shared Mulder's bed tonight? They had in the past on countless occasions when the other was either injured or after going through something a little more traumatic then usual.

She supposed tonight wouldn't be any different even if things had shifted, at least slightly, between them. "Fine", she agrees, crawling into bed beside him, pulling at the ends of her dress as she climbed under the covers.

She settled herself on the pillows, immediately reaching across to check Mulder for signs of a fever with her hand.

Having won his battle to get Scully in the bed, Mulder begin to let the tendrils of drowsiness from the medication pull him under as he settled his head against her chest and upper torso. "Love you, Scullybug"

Scully swatted him lightly on the ear, gently running her fingers through his hair, satisfied that he had a little bit of a temperature but nothing serious to be worried about. "That's Scully to you, Fox Face", she said, completely ignoring the statement itself.

He was, after all, as high as a kite.

"Come on. You know you're dying to tell me too?", Mulder mumbled sleepily, against her collarbone.

"Tell you what exactly?", Scully asked, knowing full well what he was on about.

"I won't sleep if you don't", Mulder assured her, even though they both knew he was nearly more than half conked out already.

At this point Scully was almost certain he wouldn't remember in the morning anyway even if she, previously anyway, wanted to wait until they could talk about this like adults. "Alright, I love you, jeeze"

Mulder let out a drowsy chuckle, his voice still sounding pretty darn gleeful despite his near unconscious state. "Dana Scully loves me!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

...

The Former Mulder Family Residence

Martha's Vineyard

The Following Morning.

...

"For the holy love of fuck", Mulder mumbled, his face drowning in the fabric of his pillowcase. The first things he noticed before he had even opened his eyes were his splitting headache and how he was leaned against his already awake and sitting up in bed partner. "Remind me Scully. Was I hit by a taxi, a hearse, a UFO and a flock of flying elephants yesterday by any chance ."

Scully chuckled, glad to see him awake and acting somewhat like himself after a whole night of staying up to make sure he would be okay. "Not this time, buddy. I'm afraid you were just the victim of Diana Fowley's pissed off left hook and an impromptu appointment with the concrete patio tiles outside."

Mulder groaned, scooting over on the mattress until his head was nestled in her lap, much like it had been when they had taken a detour into the woods for a case when they were supposed to be at a team building seminar.

(And going by the events of the last twenty four hours, they could really use some work on their communication skills).

"Oh well, I don't think this marriage thing was for me anyway".

Scully smirked, stiffing a yawn. "Me neither", she confessed in a vaguely amused tone, laying back against the headboard. "Much too official. And I've always liked my surname."

Mulder let out a loud bark of laughter, rolling over on his back so he could look up at her. "Fancy not being married to me by any chance, Scully?"

Scully rolled her eyes, drowsily. The effects of having stayed up for the majority of the night were beginning to catch up with her. "I think that's one of the weirdest questions you a have ever asked me, Mulder?"

He reached up, brushing the dark circles under her eyes with his thumb and tucking a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. "You look tired,", he stated softly, ignoring his own ailments in light of his partner's obvious exhaustion. "I thought I was the insomniac of this dynamic duo", he teased, hoping to cheer her up even slightly.

After all, he knew she had been worried about him.

Scully smiled sleepily, running a hand though his slightly mess bedhead. "Don't worry", she told him with a yawn, stretching out a little. "That title is still all yours. I just wanted to make sure that you'd be okay".

At this Mulder sat up until they were so close their noses were almost touching. He could have teased her about worrying for him or brushed it off because he has had concussions before and had been fine afterwards.

But he didn't. This time he was touched by how much the woman in front of him cared for him and he was struck, yet again, by how much he cared for her.

Resting his hand against her neck, he pecked her lightly on the forehead, staying within their usual boundaries. "Thank you".

Scully ducked her head, cracking a half smile at his watchful eye (it seemed as though he were drawing her in with his eyes, the beautiful hazel orbs they were). "Don't mention it, Mulder. I've stayed awake with you before when you were sick or injured, the same as you have for me. It's what best friends do."

Mulder held her gaze for a moment, trying to gauge her thoughts.

Did she want him to pry further? He thoughts so...her bright blue eyes were hopeful and challenging, reminding him of their first argument after he had given her the lowdown on the Bellefleur case when they were first assigned to work together.

Little did they now back then that they would still be together, six years later no less, still arguing and looking for the truth.

Mulder couldn't help but wonder if Scully had known that he truly didn't want to get married yesterday and interrupted the ceremony for that reason? (He had after all, gotten burned by others before...) He silenced the voice in his head that offered that conclusion.

No, Scully wouldn't do that. She was the one person in his life who never toyed with his emotions. If she said something, she meant it. But wouldn't that mean...Were his memories of Scully's half joking and half serious confessions real or just hallucinations from the pain meds?

He needed the truth, so he pressed her further.

"Just friends?"

Scully sighed deeply, bringing a hand up to rest on his shoulder. She knew that if she didn't say it now, she never would and she and Mulder would spend the rest of their lives dancing around each other.

She gently ran her hand down his arm, lacing their fingers together. She usually had enough strengthen to deal with things but right now, she needed his courage.

"You were always more than just my friend, Mulder. I meant what I said yesterday, I've loved you for far longer than I even realized and it took almost losing you to someone else for me to woman up enough to tell you", she told him honestly. "Look, I get it if you don't feel the same way. I just...couldn't let you get married without knowing."

Mulder grinned goofily in disbelief, running both his thumbs across her cheekbones in small circles. "Not feel the same way? You, Dana Scully, are the most intelligent person I know by a long mile and yet you question whether I feel the same way?", he replied incredoulously, lightly prodding her on the tip of the nose."But I guess you always were a skeptic, huh?

Scully shrugged in admission, she couldn't argue with him on that.

Mulder pressed further, happy to give her all the evidence that she could possible want and more..."I've loved you since you walked into our basement. Hell I've been so crazy about you it almost drove me insane at times. I've just always thought you were way out of my league, that you deserved a better, sweeter, more boring and more likable to cranky older Naval brothers kind of guy who had half of my emotional baggage."

Scully rolled her eyes. "Mulder after I met you, I tried dating guys who were just like that but they all had one fatal and unforgivable flaw..."

"Which was?"

"I was bored to tears when I was with them. They weren't you and for that reason alone it would never have worked out. I've never met anyone with the same passion, stubborn belief and strength as you. You challenge me and frustrate me and drive me up with walls with the conclusions you come to in ways no one else ever has or will. In the midst of all the pain, anger, frustration and loss we went through together, I still wouldn't change a day."

Mulder smiled lovingly, finding himself begin to duck down a little until their faces were at the same level. "Scully, I love you", he whispered, bumping her nose against his own. "I like really really love you", he sealed his promise with a quick forceful kiss to his partner's lips. He leaned back a few seconds later, pleased with himself.

Despite his smug grin, Scully felt a smile break out on her own face, her lips tugging upwards as she brought her hands up to gently cup Mulder's face, pulling him towards her once again. "Ditto, partner", she told him. "I always will."

...

And you say, let's run away now.

I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door

Baby, I didn't say my vows

So glad you were around when they said speak now.

~Taylor Swift, Speak Now

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this! Please leave a review :) thanks for all your support with this story!

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review.


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